Two Months Missing
by Supermikeyninjalady
Summary: Frank and Joe's father has been missing for two months now... and they still haven't found any leads as to where he can be. As time goes on Joe begins to blame himself for his father's disappearance. Now Frank has two things to deal with. Finding his dad, and convincing Joe it wasn't his fault. In this story the brother's are a bit younger. Frank 16 and Joe 15. NAME CHANGED!
1. Chapter 1

Hey ya'll this is my second fanfiction (but first Hardy Boys fanfic.) So I hope you enjoy it. Please _REVIEW_, and I update every two to three days. But most likely three days. The boys are a bit younger in this story-Frank, 16 And Joe, 15. If you are wondering why Joe plays football in this story, it's because in the original series he and Frank both played it. Anyways...  
Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I am a sleuth myself, and I am good friends with the Hardy boys! But I do not own them...

Prologue...

The fireplace blazed with flames. Crackling and spitting out ashes. Deep red and mildly orange rays of heat erupting from logs.

The hardy house living room was always like this in the winter. With everything warm, and happy. The snow outside bringing smiles to the family on the inside. Happiness.

But today there was something else there too. Fear. Worry. Sadness. Basically all the bad emotions piled into one boy. Joe Hardy.

He sat in his dad's armchair staring into the flames. He was so engulfed in his own thoughts, that he didn't see Frank sit in the chair besides him.  
"We will find him Joe. Dad's been missing before, and you and I both know, that he always comes back."

Joe looked up, meeting his older brother's eyes.

"He's _never_ been gone for two months Frank. And we've looked everywhere... We still haven't found him. We have _no_ leads either." Joe answered looking back to the floor.

Frank put his hand on Joe's shoulder and gently squeezed.

"Joe, dad's tough. We _will _find him. Now c'mon, the award ceremony is in an hour. I think it would be good for you to get out. For a reason _other than _looking for dad. Besides you've worked since September to get this Best Player So Far This Year award." Frank said reassuringly.

Joe snarled inwardly. He didn't want to go to some football award ceremony. Not when his dad was missing.

He hated the fact that two months ago, his life was centered on two things. Football, and Detective work.

And he was focusing too hard on trying to get the best player award in his team, to realize that his dad was acting weird.

He blamed himself for his dad's disappearance. And although he would never tell Frank that, his mind kept slipping back to that day two months ago...

_TWO MONTHS AGO_

They were out at the dock and a police car was taking away two thief's to jail.

It had started a week ago, when their dad asked for their help on a robbery case.

Men had been mysteriously breaking into people's homes and stripping them of all their valuables.

To Frank and Joe, they were the lowest case of Burglars. Scumbags, only just a bit above the thief's that stole wallets, or purses.

So it had only took seven days for Frank and Joe to track them down to one of the small barely used docks, where they were going to load their stolen valuables into a boat and head of to the small islands of Japina. Secluded in a small piece of the Pacific Ocean.

"So now there's all these items to return to families all over the place." Frank sighed.

"Yeah luckily that's not in our job description." Joe laughed.  
Frank playfully hit his brother on the back of the head.

"Good job boys." Their Dad said, stepping out of his van and approaching them.

"Dad! We thought you were solving a case in Virginia. What are you doing back in Bayport so soon?" Frank asked.

"Oh. Umm... That case. Right. It was a fast one." He answered.  
Joe shared a curious glance with Frank, but shrugged it off, as he had something really important to talk about.

"Hey dad, I was talking to Coach Lawson, and he said that "I am a quite valuable player for the team." I'm not trying to jump to any conclusions but that sounds pretty good to me. Right?" Joe asked excitedly.

Fenton laughed at his youngest son's excitement. Although solving mysteries would always be Joe's favorite thing to do, football was a close second. At least for the time being in his young son's life.

"That's great Joe." Fenton said. "Now let's get home. Your mother has no doubt, cooked us another wonderful meal. And we don't want to keep her waiting."

The brothers nodded and Climbed into their convertible.

Figuring their dad was right behind them they had taken off. But after arriving back at the house, and waiting two hours, their dad still hadn't come home.

He didn't answer the phone either. And eventually they made their way back to the docks. This time with their mother, Aunt Gertrude, and Chet in tow.

When they arrived they found their dad's car parked exactly the way it was when they left. And no sign of their dad.

Joe had looked around at the empty dock. Screamed out his father's name. And then frantically looked everywhere with his family and best friend. But they couldn't find him. Their dad was gone...

_PRESENT DAY_

Joe was snapped out of his memory as Frank slapped him across the face.

"Hey! What was that for?" Joe asked angrily.

"You wouldn't snap out of it. And I remembered from previous times, that slapping you always worked. Come on Joe get ready. We have to pick up Chet, Tony, Phil, and Biff on our way there." Frank answered quickly.

Joe sighed. Why were all his friends coming? Only he and Biff were actually on the team. Usually he would've loved for his friends to come, but this time he really didn't want that. Them coming meant having to talk. Having to fake his laughter along with whatever they would say. Having to pretend he was excited.

Things that Joe two months ago, would have loved.

But he had changed a lot when their father disappeared. He barely ate. Only slept for maybe three hours each night. And he hadn't really seen his friends, other than Chet outside of school since he was constantly trying to find his father.

Yet he had still managed to do great on his team, and still managed to earn the award of the Best Player So Far This Year award. And now... It was bringing him nothing more than misery.

Sighing in defeat, he stood up and went to the bedroom he and Frank shared, so he could change into his suit and tie. And grabbed his coat, since it was cold outside.

Twenty minutes later, he sulked into the convertible next to his brother. And they were on their way.

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Frank was worried about Joe. Although he had also had a hard time with their dad's disappearance, Joe seemed to be taking it a lot worse.

He was up pretty much all night trying to track their dad down, in their lab above the garage, and the only time he saw him eat was maybe once a day when he ate an apple a lunch.

And now he sat in the passenger seat of the car with a fake smile as he put on his fake laugh at their friends jokes.

But Frank could see right through it. He could see the look of fear and sadness in his younger brother's eyes.

And it made him sad that he couldn't help even in the slightest.

_Oh well. This'll be good for him. At least he's forced to go out and get some actual fun for one night._

"You ok Frank?" Tony asked.

Frank looked back at his blonde haired friend. "Yeah why?" He asked.

"Because you're starting to look like Chet when he sees a spider. AHHH HELP IT'S BITING ME AHHH!" Tony cried.

And the whole car burst into laughter (except for Chet of course.)

"That was _one _time guys. Jeez a man's afraid of something _once _and he never sees the end of it." Chet whined.

Again laughter, but not as harsh this time.

"C'mon Chet we're only messing with you." Biff laughed.

Soon they arrived at Bayport High school, home of the Bayport cheetahs.  
"C'mon we're going to be late it starts in five minutes!" Phil cried looking at his watch.

"Yeah, don't want to be late to your own ceremony Joe." Tony said.

Joe nodded and began to follow the others in, only a few paces behind them.

Frank stayed behind walking with his brother.

"You ok Joe?" He asked, with concern.

"Couldn't be better." Joe said sarcastically.

Frank put an arm over his brother's shoulder as they continued the walk inside.

Sitting down at the table with their friends. They watched as the coach of the Bayport Cheetahs went to the microphone to speak.

Then the ceremony begun.

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The first part of the night went by in a blur.

They ate, watched as the coach spoke, and then Joe got his award. They were in the middle of watching coach give out the "improving" awards, when a man dressed as a waiter came over to Joe and tapped him on the shoulder.

Slipping something small into Joe's hands, he was gone as soon as he had arrived.

Looking into the palm of his hand Joe saw it was a folded up letter.

He quickly opened it and couldn't help but let out a gasp at what it read.

_If you ever want to see your dad again, bring 200,000 dollars to the store __Eye Glasses __at midnight._

TBC…

Hey guys! Hope you enjoyed the prologue. And I will see you again in two to three days.

Please _REVIEW_! I will be so happy if you do.


	2. Chapter 2

First of all, I am so sorry that this is really late! I have been having some personal problems. If I am ever late with updates, it's because a lot of things are going on in my life right now. Thank you so much for being patient, and thank you to the five people who reviewed and made my day!

Endersgirl104

Pen4lew

Max2013

Barb (anonymous reader)

Centaurdy jackson007

Disclaimer: I sadly don't own Hardy Boys. I only own the story. And I am not making a profit either.

Anyways, ENJOY!

Chapter 1…

Frank sighed as the last of the improving awards were given out.

_How long can one football ceremony be? _He thought.

The ceremony was long, and Coach Lawson seemed to ramble on and on about how happy he was so far this season.

Frank was just about to excuse himself over to the table where his crush Callie was sitting, when he heard Joe gasp next to him.

He looked over at his younger brother, the young blonde looking back at him with fear in his eyes.

"What is it Joe?" Frank asked.

"I got this letter from one of the waiters. It's our first clue." He whispered back.

Passing the note under the table, so that the others wouldn't notice, Joe slipped the note into Frank's open hand.

Frank read the note once over and then looked back to Joe once more.

"We've got work to do."

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Later that night, the boys sat in their lab, discussing what to do next.

"It's obvious that we can't just give them the money Joe. We don't know if they would even let dad go." Frank stated.

"Yeah, besides it might be a trap. Maybe we should just go, put an empty suitcase down, and then hide and attack?" Joe asked seriously.

Frank gave his brother an annoyed look.

"What? Do you have any better ideas?" Joe continued.

Before Frank could say anything, his cell phone started to vibrate.

"Hello? Frank and Joe Hardy, how can we help you?" Frank answered.

"It's Chet. How come you guys left the ceremony so quickly, did something happen?" Came their best friend's voice over the other line.

"Yeah, we got a note from a man, which we assume is one of Dad's kidnappers. He wants us to come to some store called Eye Glasses at midnight and bring 200,000 dollars."

"What? 200,000 dollars, that's way too much. What're you going to do?"

Joe stole the phone from Frank so he could speak "I have an idea. Do you think you could help?"

"Joe? Yeah. Of course. I am always willing to help you guys."

"Cool come to the lab, and hurry." Joe finished and hung up.

Frank sighed, Joe's plans weren't bad. It's just that they were usually a bit complicated, either that or they were made up on the spot.

Frank was the opposite, and liked to think things through before doing them. But Joe's patience on a scale from one to ten was probably as low as a two.

As if reading Frank's mind, Joe said. "Trust me Frank. I think this'll work. I _have to _find dad."

_It's my fault he's gone…_

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As the brothers waited for their chubby best friend to come, Frank's mind kept wandering back to their dad a few weeks before he had disappeared…

Two months and two weeks ago...

"_What do you mean you can't tell us what you're doing on your next case dad? Frank asked, his patience starting to wear thin._

"_I mean exactly that Frank. I can't tell you. It's a very private case." His Dad answered angrily._

"_Since when did you keep your cases a secret from us Dad? You trust us right?" he continued, staring straight into his father's eyes._

"_Of course I trust you Frank. But there are some things even I cannot share, EVEN WITH YOU!" Fenton cried._

_Frank flinched, not expecting his usually calm, level headed father to lash out on him like that._

"_Dad…"_

"_No Frank. This conversation is over." _

_And with that, his Dad marched out of the room, slamming the door behind him._

_Leaving Frank in his Dad's office alone. _

_Hurt and confused._

"FRANK! Hello? Anyone home."

Frank snapped out of his thoughts, as his younger brother waved a hand in front of his face.

"Huh? Oh oops sorry. Yeah I'm good. I was just thinking." He answered.

"I should've slapped you." Joe joked.

Frank glared at his brother and then looked over to see that Chet was sitting beside him.

_Man how long was I out of it?_

"So can I tell you the plan _now?" Joe asked _impatiently.

Frank nodded, feeling bad about keeping them waiting.

After Frank and Chet both agreed, Joe began to explain his plan.

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Sitting behind a shelf, in the store Eye Glasses, Joe watched as his plan was starting to unfold.

_This has to work. It's my fault for not seeing the signs that dad was in trouble, so I have to fix this. I just have to._

Joe looked out, and sighed inwardly as Chet successfully put the suitcase full of green paper down in the middle of the store, and then retreated behind the shelf with him and Frank.

"Now we wait." Joe whispered to the others, who nodded their agreement.

The Eye Glasses store, was right next to the old dock, Joe's plan, was to sneak out (while the kidnappers checked the money) and try to find how they got here. Like trying to find their car, or whatever. Meanwhile Frank and Chet would serve as distractions so Joe could snoop.

As soon as he saw a dark hooded figure enter the store, he stood to head out.

"Be careful Joe." Frank whispered to him as he started to inch to the back exit.

"You too Frank."

Soon Joe was outside at the docks. He looked around, but didn't have to look long, because right in front of him was a large boat.

"They make this way too easy." He whispered to himself.

Making his way to the back of the boat he groaned as he saw a guard at the entrance.

"I take it back…"

Joe jumped behind crates, just as the bald guard turned in his direction.

_I need another way on._

Searching the boat, Joe smiled when he found a window. Using a paper clip, which he always had with him now that he was always working cases, he easily picked the lock and entered into a small kitchen.

Looking around him, he almost gagged at the sight of rotting vegetables and dirty silverware.

Seeing nothing that could be a clue, Joe was about to leave the kitchen when he heard someone approaching.

Jumping into the kitchen's small cupboard he held his breath.

The last thing he needed, was to be caught and kidnapped himself…

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Frank and Chet ran from the building as the cloaked man launched after them.

"That didn't go well!" Chet yelled as they ran.

"I just hope it bought Joe enough time, to check out the boat and then get out of there." Frank answered.

As they ran, the man came closer to them, gaining on them, with his long legs.

Frank grabbed a barrel next to him and rolled it over to the man, knocking him over in one quick move.

"Let's get to the back and find Joe. Hurry." He called to Chet.

They ran to the back, but didn't see Joe anywhere.

_Great he's still on the boat? First me and Chet are caught behind the shelves for being too loud, and now this? This is just not a good night for us._

"Chet let's get on the boat." Frank said.

"What are you nuts? They look like they are about to take off!" Chet answered.

"Trust me Chet, let's go."

"Oh brother…"

As the boat began to move and the guard entered the boat, the two boys leaped onto the deck just as it pulled away from the dock.

Turning to face the inside they were suddenly staring into the faces of five huge men.

"Get 'em boys." One of them said.

And then they attacked.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and sorry if it was a bit short, or if the characters were a bit OC. But I still hope you enjoyed it nevertheless.

Please _REVIEW_ and this time I will try and update on time. Love you and keep reading!


	3. Chapter 3

Hey guys, I'm on time with this chapter! Yay! I really hope you enjoy it. Thanks for your continued support, I really appreciate it. Also thank you very much for the reviews! They really do make my day every time I read them.

Disclaimer: All clues say, that I do not own The Hardy Boys… Well at least I own this story right?

Chapter 2…

Joe found it very hard to breathe when he was surrounded by dusty mops and cans of food.

Not to mention, he was in a cabinet. A place humans usually didn't go in.

He listened as the sounds of footsteps seemed to slowly fade away. He sighed, relaxing a little.

But his relief only lasted a few seconds, when the mop was thrown against the other wall, and the cans began to rumble.

The boat was moving.

"Oh no. No, no, no, no, NO!" Joe cried aloud, jerking up and throwing back the door of the cabinet.

Fortunately there was no sign of the person that had been there earlier, or of anybody else either.

Joe looked around the room trying to think of the best method of escape. Seeing nowhere else, but the place he came in Joe went over to the small window and cracked it open.

He was about to jump out, when he heard Frank's voice bellow out from somewhere in the upper decks.

"JOE!"

Joe gasped. Frank was on the ship also?

"IF YOU CAN HEAR ME! THE SHIP HAS SUNK. I REPEAT THE SHIP HAS SUNK!"

Joe recognized the code for help right away. They had been using it for ages now, and it meant "Help! All hell is breaking loose! I need backup!"

Without a second to loose, Joe grabbed a mop and made his way up to the poop deck.

_Hang on brother, I'm coming._

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Frank swung his fists angrily at one of the big burly men. Chet was lying unconscious on the floor after being knocked upside the head, with a frying pan.

It wasn't like Frank to get angry, but these men had not only kidnapped his father, but now they had knocked out his best friend too.

The bald man that Frank had just punched, stumbled backwards stunned and surprised. But being so huge, he quickly gathered himself up and stared into Frank's eyes.

"Kid. You are so going to pay for that." He said cracking his knuckles.

Frank circled around to find a way out, but to his dismay the other men had formed a circle around him.

He was blocked.

_Great. Why me? Ugh… I am a detective, not a fighter. I need help. That's it! Joe!_

"JOE IF YOU CAN HEAR ME THE SHIP HAS SUNK! I REPEAT THE SHIP HAS SUNK!" He yelled at the top of his lungs, hoping that Joe had heard him.

Now all he had to do was keep them from killing him until his brother arrived.

Not too hard… right?

Frank ducked down as the frying pan came swinging towards his head.

Reaching blindly to try and find anything he could use to defend himself, Frank's hand grasped around an empty crate.

He threw it at a red haired man's head, knocking him out.

"Well, well, well, you _are_ as strong as your father says you are." Said a deep husky voice from behind Frank, causing the young Hardy to stop in his tracks.

He whirled around to face the man. He was a tall very well built man with dark hair like his. Running down the right side of his face, was a long ugly, black scar.

Everyone on the deck halted in their tracks at the sight of the man.

"Who are you? What have you done with my father?" Frank asked, trying to keep his cool.

The man started to approach Frank. And as he got closer Frank backed up trying to stay out of his reach.

"Now if I told you who I am and where your father is, I would be an idiot. Boys grab him." He answered, with a slight smile.

Before Frank could react he was grabbed by two sets of big hairy arms.

"Sadly since you've seen too much, I will have to get rid of you and your friend over there." He said pointing to Chet.

"What about the money huh? How are you going to get that?" Frank asked in a calm voice.

"Oh don't worry. With your father gone. And now you too, I can force your family to give double the cash. Honestly I am surprised you didn't bring that brat of a brother along with you." The man said.

Frank opened his mouth to speak, when he was interrupted by someone behind the scarred man.

"He _did _bring me you creep. We're a team! Now, LET. HIM. GO."

The scarred man turned around just to have a mop meet his head halfway.

He groaned and crumpled to the floor, unconscious.

"Nice timing Joe!" frank cried, brushing himself off.

"Not over yet!" Joe cried, pointing to the men behind them.

The last of the big men who weren't unconscious, were cornering them again.

Joe lifted his mop just for it to be pushed out of his hands, clanking to the hard wood floor.

"Nice try Hardy. But since you took our boss down, we are taking you out." One of them said.

"Ugh just who are these people Frank?" Joe whispered to his brother.

"They won't tell me." He whispered back.

"And you won't find out." A particularly big man said, and then before the boys could hesitate, he lifted them one in each arm and pushed them towards the edge of the boat.

"I hope you boys know how to swim. Because there isn't any land for about 30 miles. And you can't swim that far without becoming too tired. Plus one of you is already unconscious" He said.

Frank frantically looked to the right, where Chet was also being lifted to the edge of the boat.

He struggled to get out of the man's hold. But it was no use. He was far too strong.

"Youngest first I guess." He said, and pushed Joe off the boat.

"JOE!" Frank yelled out.

"Oh relax, you're going too." The man said. And soon Frank felt himself falling, falling, falling.

He finally landed with a loud splash in the cold water. Coming back up for air he searched frantically for Joe. Luckily he found him soon, bobbing in the water two inches away from him.

He heard another splash come from his left, and saw Chet being startled awake by the water.

"Huh?" Chet grumbled. And then started to sink, still too weak to swim.

"I gotcha." Frank said, grabbing a hold of his friend.

"F-frank. What do we do now?" Joe asked, his voice quivering from the cold.

"I don't know Joe. I guess we'd better start swimming." Frank answered, as the boat sped off and disappeared into the distance.

Joe and Frank both knew they'd never make a thirty mile swim. It was impossible to do. Especially with both of them tired from everything that had happened. And Chet was slowly falling back into unconsciousness.

But knowing there wasn't any other choice they started the slow journey.

It was very dark out and neither brother knew what time it was. But as it grew later, and as the boys grew more and more tired, they were about to give up when…

"That dimwit must've miscalculated, Frank I-I think I s-see land!" Joe cried out.

Sure enough no more than forty feet away, was a big dock with many boats resting in their spots.

"Thank god!" Frank cried.

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Luckily the boys found a small motel on the dock, and they dragged their exhausted selves there.

An hour later they were showered and relaxing on some-what comfortable beds.

"Chet's going to be ok." Frank said to Joe, when he saw his brother look at their friend with concern.

"Yeah… I can see that." Joe answered.

After they had used the last of their money to pay for the room (thank god for Frank's high tech water proof wallet) and gotten in the room, Chet had awoken and ate almost all of the motel's complimentary fruit, then had flopped on the bed instantly asleep.

"He's going to be just fine." Joe continued.

Frank frowned when he saw that his brother's facial expression hadn't changed.

"Well then, what's with the frown Joe. Are you ok?" Frank asked with concern.

"I'm fine Frank…" Joe said, almost emotionlessly.

"Yeah right Joe. I know you better than anyone in the world. So stop lying to me. What's wrong?" he asked again.

"Ugh. Fine. It's just… well we were _so close _to finding dad Frank. I mean we were on the freaking boat of his kidnappers. But then we blew it. And now… we are who knows where, with no clues. _Again_."

"Well actually… we do have one clue." Frank said, pulling out a shard of black cloth from his pocket.

Joe's face instantly lit up "Is that what I think it is Frank?" he asked his older brother.

"Yup. A piece of the scar guy's shirt. When he was close to me I ripped it off of him. God only knows how it survived the swim here. It might have fingerprints on it. It's our first lead. Also I am pretty sure I can identify the boat if we see it again. As to where we are right now, we are in Madison Wisconsin. I saw a sign on our way here." Frank finished.

Joe sat on the bed next to Frank's with the biggest grin he had worn in the last month, smiling with pride at his brother.

"Did I ever tell you that you're awesome Frank?" he asked.

"Nope but it's never too late to start." Frank joked back. "Get some sleep Joe, you need it."

"You too Frank." Joe answered.

And soon the boys had fallen asleep, having no idea of what the next day had to hold.

TBC…

Ok I really hope you enjoyed this chapter. Stay awesome and keep reading. I'll see you in three days.

Oh and of course please _REVIEW. _It will make me so happy if you do.


	4. Chapter 4

Hey my awesome 12 reviewers! Here's chapter three. I am currently on vacation! I should still get updates up on time, but if I ever don't. It's because I am not home. Thanks and enjoy.

Disclaimer: I have all the books of the original Hardy Boys series, yet I still don't own them.

Chapter three…

Joe woke up to the smell of bacon frying on the stove. He opened his eyes and blearily pushed himself up.

"Took you long enough to wake up! The bacon is almost ready." Chet said in a joking manner.

Joe smiled, happy to see his friend was feeling better. "Where'd you get bacon?" he asked sleepily.

"We got it at the small general store, fifteen minutes away while you were asleep." Chet answered.

"How? We have no money left."

"We got some out of an ATM machine. We also called home and told everyone we are ok. Then after we got the food we headed over to the local police station and they said that they'd run the prints for us."

"You had time to do all that? Jeez how long was I out."

This time Frank answered "Well it's Twelve now…"

"TWELVE? WHAT! Why didn't you wake me?"

Frank sighed knowing that, that question would come up quickly "Joe we tried. But you were really out of it. So we figured we'd just let you sleep."

"Did you slap me?"

"Well… no."

"Darn Frank, Chet, why don't you understand that _I _have to fix this. It was my fault, so I have to fix it. But I can't do that when I am asleep."

Another sigh from Frank. "Joe. It's not your fault ok? Dad should have…"

Frank was interrupted by the small hotel phone ringing.

Joe picked it up and answered "Hello? This is Joe Hardy, how can I help you?"

A low voice on the other line said "Yes hello, this is Police Chief Gerald. We have the results on the fingerprint tests."

"That's great. Who is it?"

"It's not good. We think you should come down to the station."

Joe's heart dropped when the policeman said that. He took a deep breath, knowing he couldn't afford to freak out, and said.

"We're on our way."

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The drive to the police station felt long despite the fact that it was less than a half an hour away.

Frank rolled down the window and allowed the fresh air to whip his short black bangs over his eyes.

_It's not good. _That's what the policeman had told Joe over the phone.

Frank took in a deep breath and let it out, willing himself to calm down.

He let his eyes stray to his brother and best friend, both of whom looked just as scared as him.

The second Joe got off the phone, they had dropped everything, called a cab, and got on the road as quickly as possible.

Now Frank watched as the police station rolled into view.

After thanking the taxi driver and paying him, they entered the small building and were instantly greeted by a tall man with brown hair, graying around the temples.

"Hello boys. Let's head to my office shall we?" he said, and then pointed to a room in the back of the building. The door saying Police Chief Gerald.

Frank nodded, and followed his friends to their destination, all the while swerving around desks and policemen.

Entering the room, Frank instantly took in the surroundings. The desk took up half of the room, and there was also a swivel chair and many plants. All those things combined with the _four_ people now standing here made Frank feel quite cramped.

"Well… who is it?" Joe asked the second they entered the office.

Frank nudged his brother for being so impatient "Sorry about my brother. He's just nervous." He continued, instantly getting a glare from the fifteen year old.

"No it's fine. I completely understand your situation. If it was my father I would be just as anxious. And I am happy to help the sons of Fenton Hardy any day." Gerald said.

Joe stared over at the Chief with a look of impatience. The Chief stared back for a second, before clearing his throat.

"Ahem. Right. We have run the tests, and there was indeed a fingerprint on it. The fingerprint belongs to Brandon Davison. Otherwise known as Bullet. He is the most wanted criminal in all of Wisconsin."

Joe's faced dropped.

_What have you gotten yourself into this time dad?_

"What is he wanted for?" Joe asked in a small voice, showing how scared he really was.

"Many things. From robberies, to kidnappings, and… he even has one _murder _on him." The police Chief said sadly.

As if Joe wasn't scared enough already, the Chief said the man was wanted for murder, making Joe feel like he needed to throw up.

His dad. Fenton Hardy. The man who went through everything, and still somehow made it out alive.

His dad, who had worked more cases than Joe could count, some of them being deadly, and yet he was still here.

Despite of all those cases, all those awards, all those times their dad had come home, Joe couldn't be more scared.

_And it's all my fault. _

"I… need some air." He blurted out, and was out the door as quickly as he came.

He kept going until he reached the doors. He didn't care about all the faces that were looking at him, or the fact that his older brother was right on his tail.

He just needed to get out.

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_TWO MONTHS AND ONE WEEK AGO…_

It was three in the morning, and Joe woke up not feeling so good.

He had a horrible headache and no matter how he tossed and turned, he just couldn't sleep.

Sighing, he finally decided to get up and get a glass of water. He cautiously inched across their floor and opened the door slowly.

It would not be pretty if he woke Frank up this early in the morning.

Inching down the hallway he was about to go down the stairs when he heard a voice coming from outside the window.

_It was his dad. _

As silently as he could, Joe opened up the window ever so slightly, to listen to what his dad was saying.

"Did you get it up in the ads? Perfect. _He_ should see them soon. Yes. Ok. Alright I'll call you back in the morning. Great. Bye." Fenton said.

_He's talking on the phone… who would he talk to at three in the morning? Ads? And who is HE? What's he hiding from us? _Joe thought to himself.

He stood there for a few minutes thinking of what to do next, but was interrupted by the sound of almost silent footsteps on the stairs.

Not wanting to get caught, he ran back into his room, shut the door, and climbed back into bed.

_I'll be watching you dad. Something's up. I know it. _He thought before drifting off to sleep.

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_PRESENT DAY_

Frank ran after Joe as he fled the station. Finally Joe stopped at a bench outside the old building, and instantly collapsed into it.

Frank hated to see his brother upset. Especially since it rarely ever happened. The Hardy brothers were tough.

But not in-human.

Frank sat next to his brother and put his arm around him.

"Joe…" he started, but was interrupted right away.

"I should have paid more attention Frank. He was acting so weird. And… I told myself I'd keep an eye out. I told myself that something was wrong. But what did I do? _Nothing._ I did nothing. I was too wrapped up in myself. I was too selfish. And now… he's with a murderer Frank. He could be killed. Or he could already…"

"NO! No… Joe, he's ok. I just know he's ok. And we all should've seen the signs Joe. Not only you. Me, Aunt Gertrude, and Mom. We all should have seen the signs. Besides Joe it's not your job to look after dad. It's dad's job to look after us. We were all wrapped up in the fact that dad seems invulnerable, that none of us ever expected for this to happen. Ok Joe? It is not your fault." Frank finished looking over at Joe.

Joe sighed and just nodded.

_The last thing I need is for Frank to think I am a baby. Plus I don't want him to worry about me. It's not about me. It's about dad. This is my fault I. Will. Fix. It._

Joe took a deep breath and choked back his tears refusing to cry, then he said.

"Let's go find him Frank. There's no time to lose."

Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Yay the story is unraveling! Sorry that there wasn't very much action in this chapter. I promise action to come though.

Please _REVIEW, FOLLOW, or FAVORITE _writers always love to know what people think about their stories.


	5. Chapter 5

Hey readers, here's the next chapter. Like always I am so happy to receive reviews, it brightens my day to see people's opinions on my story. I know I say that every chapter, but I do absolutely mean it. So thank you all for your continued support.

A shout out to my Beta, _Endersgirl104_! You rule and thank you so much for correcting my spelling mistakes and grammar!

Disclaimer: Joe Hardy called me on the phone last night to talk about the case we are working on right now. It's the case of whether I own The Hardy Boys or not. We solved the case… and the answer is no I do not.

Chapter 4…

Frank sighed and sat down on a hill overlooking Lake Mendota. He and Joe had been trying to find a lead to where Bullet may be all day now, without any luck.

They had split up at mid-day, Frank taking the south side of the city and Joe the north. They went everywhere that Bullet had been spotted in the past trying to find any clues to where he could be now.

Now the moon was beginning to shine behind the clouds and after stopping at the Belmont Hotel and finding nothing, Frank was exhausted, bored, and _very_ annoyed.

"He just _had_ to go to almost every place in this city!" Frank mumbled to himself. He looked up to the sky and couldn't help but smiling at the sunset and all its colors.

Leaning back against the soft grass of the hill, Frank found his eyes beginning to droop.

As he was about to succumb into much needed sleep, when his cell phone began to ring.

Seeing it was Joe, Frank quickly answered.

"Find anything Joe?" He asked.

"Yeah. Well maybe… I think I mean." Came Joe's voice from the other line.

"What do you mean, you think?"

"I stopped at the Thompson's house on Adam's St. since they were the last house to be robbed by Bullet. And they told me that he accidentally left a piece of paper covered in notes, when he fled from the police. Apparently they only just discovered it, which is why they didn't show it to the police. I think I know where he may have taken dad. I think."

"That's great Joe! Where are you now?"

"Our room in the motel. Come quickly I want to show you the notes. And you'd better hurry. Chet says dinner is getting cold."

Frank chuckled and after saying goodbye he hung up the phone.

Good ole Chet. Always making him laugh, no matter the situation.

Excited for the first time in a long time, Frank stood up and made his way back to the motel.

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When Frank entered the room, Joe smiled up at him from the sofa happily.

"I just got off the phone with Mom, Frank. She said Callie and Iola are going to drive The Sleuth up here since this place is surrounded by water, and they are bringing us some money from home too." Joe said with a smile.

Frank grinned also. He was happy that he would get to see Callie again.

"Ooh both of your crushes are coming! I still can't believe you like my sister Joe…" Chet cried as he entered the room.

Joe playfully pushed Chet and they all laughed, happy at the turn of events.

Soon they were eating spaghetti for dinner and chatting happily. Once they finished the meal and were once again in the living room, Joe pulled out the crumpled piece of paper, and then handed it to Frank to check out.

"These are a bunch of addresses." Frank said, a she looked down at it.

"I know. So what I did, was I found the map of Wisconsin and circled all of these addresses. They go outside of Madison, in fact they are all around Wisconsin. Here check it out." Joe said, pulling out the map with many spots circled.

"These addresses seem to form a circle." Frank noticed.

"Yeah exactly, they all center around one place. The Steve Cheese Factory. I'm not sure… but I'm thinking, that this factory right smack in the middle of everything, is not only a good location, but it's a great place to hide stolen goods. I mean the place is huge!" Joe finished excitedly.

Frank patted his brother's back in approval. "Nice job Joe. Now we just have to figure out how to get in…"

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The next day, the boys woke up and went to the dock near the motel they were staying in so they could meet the girls.

They decked out with sandwiches made by Chet, and went over their plan once more, while they waited for them to arrive.

The plan was, that this afternoon they'd take a bus to the cheese factory and pay for a tour. While they were on the tour they would slip away so that they could search the factory for clues. If they got caught they would use the "I got lost trying to find the bathroom" excuse.

It was a simple plan when spoken aloud, but they knew that actually pulling it off was going to be very hard.

That's why they had to be careful. And act as normal as possible.

At twelve thirty the girls arrived, with smiles on their faces. Climbing out of the boat they hugged all three of the boys, before scowling at them.

"Man guys! You made us so worried. You always do that. First you leave right after the award ceremony, and then you jump on a boat and ride it all the way to Wisconsin!" Callie cried.

"Yeah and the least you could do was let us help. I mean just because we're girls doesn't mean we're useless." Iola continued.

Joe looked to Frank for help, he only shrugged.

"It's not like that. Really, we didn't even think about it in that way. We would've asked for your help, I mean you have helped in the past… but, we got a lead to finding our father and we needed to follow it right away." Joe said sadly.

Iola put a hand on Joe's shoulder when she saw he was sad. Instantly feeling bad for her outburst. "I'm sorry Joe. I shouldn't have yelled. I was just… well I'm just sorry. I have a feeling that if I was in your situation I would've jumped to it right away as well."

Callie nodded "I'm sorry too. Ugh the first thing we do when we see you again is yell."

Frank blushed slightly "Actually Callie the first thing you did was hug us." He joked.

Callie slapped him playfully "Frank Hardy, you know what I mean!"

For the second time in the last twenty four hours they were laughing happily.

"Can you guys stay for a while?" Joe asked once the laughter had died down.

"No sorry, someone has to look after our worried families," Iola laughed "The last thing we need is them thinking we disappeared too."

"But we are only a phone call away. Really guys. If you need anything we're there." Callie said.

The boys nodded, and soon the girls paid for a trip back home on a rented boat, since they brought The Sleuth for the boys.

Waving as the girls sped off into the distance, Frank looked at his watch.

"Guys it's time."

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It was almost six by the time they made it to the cheese factory. Entering, they quickly went up to the front desk.

"You're lucky boys. You made it for the last tour of the day." Said the receptionist cheerfully.

Frank sighed in relief.

_It would be beyond annoying if after everything we had to wait for tomorrow._

The boys joined the rest of the touring group and soon they were winding through the many hallways of the factory, looking at everything and even getting samples.

They waited until they saw the signs for the restaurant, to start their plan in action. Asking to be excused for a minute, they began right away.

Splitting up Joe went left, Frank right, and Chet went straight.

Joe began to walk through the hallways once more, looking every which way for a room that might seem unusual.

After thirty minutes of just walking, he was frustrated and annoyed.

That's when he saw it.

At the end of the factory right next to the exit sign, was a small door with a sign on it reading "Employees only"

Joe held his breath as he picked the lock silently.

_Either this could be where dad is or…_

"It's just a dang Employees office…" he said aloud, in utter disappointment.

Anger flooded through him as he stared at the shelf of tools, and cleaning supplies.

"I. AM. SUCH. A. FAILURE!" Joe screamed, completely forgetting to be quiet.

Punching the shelf in anger, he was about to retreat out of the office, when a wad of papers fell from a shelf onto his head.

Looking down he realized it was a newspaper… from _two months ago._

Checking its headline he saw _Fenton Hardy moves his many millions of dollars into a new bank._ _And gives half of it to the Humane Society._

"What is this?" Joe wondered aloud.

Just then a voice from behind him, made him jump up and bang his head on the shelf, crying out in pain as it said:

"You will never find out."

TBC…

Hey guys I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Just letting you know I am not from Wisconsin. I visited there once it was cool. Anyways I did research, and every building and body of water, even the street name I used in this chapter are _ALL REAL. _Also I apologize that Callie and Iola are very AU. It's because (as much as I loved) the original series, they made girls wimps. Because back then as we all know girls weren't equal. So I changed them a lot.

Anyways please _REVIEW, FOLLOW or FAVORITE _after all, it's the only payment us writers get for all our hard work. Love ya'll and keep reading!


	6. Chapter 6

Hey everyone! Thank you so unbelievably much for all the reviews! It's so great to have so much support for my story. Half of the reason I write is because I like my story, the other half is because of the support for my story. So again thank you very much for that!

_Important note:_

I also started writing another fanfic (for Supernatural) at the same time as I'm writing this, so if my updates come slower I am very sorry. But I will try _my hardest _to get them up rather quickly.

And sorry this is up a day late I was taking an 8 hour trip back home (not fun) but without any more delay, here it is!

Disclaimer: I hate repeating the fact that I don't own them, because it makes me sad…

Chapter 5…

Frank was disappointed as he walked down the hallways of the factory. It seemed like lately he was having no luck at all.

Finding no clues.

As he turned many corners and entered many different doors, everything looked the same. Soon he lost track of where he was and the only thought running through his mind was:

_I have to find something! Anything. This is our only lead, it has to mean something… right?_

Sighing in frustration, he was about to go back and try to find the others, when he heard a loud voice coming from somewhere close by.

"I. AM. A. FAILURE!" It yelled out, seeming to vibrate in the once silent hallways.

_Oh great. That's Joe. _

Frank's stomach churned uneasily at the volume of his younger brother's voice. If anyone heard that he'd be in deep trouble. _Especially _if it was one of their Dad's kidnappers.

"I better go get him quickly, before it's too late." He muttered to himself.

Pulling out his cell phone he gave Chet a quick call to let him know where he was, then started to run in the direction of Joe's voice.

Frank had been running for almost five minutes, hoping that he was running in the right direction.

Soon he reached the exit of the building, and there were five different rooms outlining the last hallway. Now which one was Joe in?

Fortunately Frank didn't have to wait long for the answer, because just then a grunt and a loud _THUD _came from inside the Employees Only room.

Kicking the door down with his foot, Frank charged inside. And he glared in anger at what he saw.

Joe lay in a crumpled heap against the shelves, and a man with red hair was standing over him, snickering.

"Get away from my brother you freak!" He screamed.

The man spun around to face him, and Frank threw a hand up to his face in frustration. It was the same man from the boat.

"What is with you Hardy's? You're supposed to be dead." The man growled.

"No, you idiots miscalculated. We weren't _30 miles_ away from land. We maybe 2 miles away. At the most!"

"I'd watch your mouth kid. Or your brat of a brother's going to get it."

Frank gulped. He didn't doubt that he could take both him _and_ his brother down if he wanted to. The man was huge. Besides Joe looked bad enough already. There was no way he could take any more.

"Ok. Ok. Settle down. I'm sorry." Frank said in a calm voice.

He hated apologizing to the big lug, but there was nothing else he could do.

Putting his hands up to show he wasn't a threat, Frank very slowly made his way over to his brother.

"I'm just going to move him away from the shelves. That's all." He said quietly. It took everything he had, to hide the rage he was now holding inside him.

_Man we need help… _He thought as he gently pulled his brother closer to the wall, and far away from the man.

The man smirked at the brothers now sitting in the corner.

"Not so tough now. Are you?" he laughed. Frank clenched his fists in anger.

"You don't know them at all." Came a voice from the door.

"Chet!" Frank cried happily.

Running into the room, Chet pushed the man with all his strength, right into the shelves. And just like Joe had earlier, he crumpled to the floor, unconscious.

"You ok?" Chet asked, offering a hand to his dark haired friend.

"Yeah I'm ok. Joe's not so doing so well though. Thanks Chet, you really saved our shoes just now." Frank answered as he stood up.

"Well it was no problem. But we have to get out of here _now. _I kind of have the other men trailing me…"

"Haha of course you do. Ok help me carry Joe, let's get out of here."

Chet nodded and came over to help carry the youngest boy. As they lifted him, a newspaper fell from under his jacket.

"What's this?" Chet asked.

"Not sure but it must be important if Joe was hiding it. Just keep it. Let's go."

And soon they scrambled out the exit, walking as fast as they could to get away from the building.

Just as they clambered onto The Sleuth, three men began to run towards them.

"Go Chet, hurry!" Frank cried as they came closer and closer.

Starting the engine, they were off. Leaving three angry men coughing from the exhaust.

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Joe groaned and grabbed at his aching head as he slowly sat up.

As his vision cleared, it hit him that he wasn't in the factory anymore.

He was back on his bed in the motel they were staying in. He looked to the left, and was surprised when he found himself staring into the worried eyes of his big brother.

"You ok bud?" Frank asked in a worried tone.

"Y-yeah. Just a bit sore. What happened?"

"I was hoping you could tell me... I found you unconscious in the Employees room, with one of those men. Luckily Chet came to help us, or we would've been toast. You've been unconscious for four hours."

Joe's cheeks flushed red out of embarrassment and guilt. It was all coming back to him. He had been so loud that the man had found him; he had blown their cover by being so stupid.

"Man… Frank. I'm so sorry. I was being dumb. I was loud and they found me. I did find one thing though." Joe rambled, and then reached under his jacket for the newspaper.

He had a moment of panic when he couldn't find it there.

"Oh you mean this?" Frank asked, taking the paper from the bedside table.

"Yeah that." Joe replied. He tried to sit up, but fell back down to the mattress when a sharp pain spread through his back.

"Joe! Be careful. He hit you against those shelves pretty hard." Frank soothed, fluffing the pillow under his head a bit.

"Thanks Frank," Joe said quietly "I think he might've left a bruise."

"Let me see." Frank continued, and pulled Joe's shirt up just enough to see a blue and purple bruise on his back.

"Ouch. That might be sore for a while. Let me go get you some ice."

Frank stood up and went to the fridge to get an ice pack, then came back quickly. He looked on with concern at the sadness in Joe's eyes.

"Something else hurt Joe?" he asked worriedly.

"Nah. I am sorry though Frank. I really screwed up."

"Hey, we're here now aren't we? It's ok. We all make mistakes. Besides I don't know how many time I have to tell you… it isn't your…" Frank started but was interrupted when Chet walked in the door.

"You ok Joe?" Chet asked quickly.

"Fine, where were you Chet?"

"Out getting groceries." He answered, holding up a bag.

Joe grinned. Of course that's where Chet was.

"You well enough to look at the paper Joe?" Frank asked.

"Yeah definitely." Joe answered, and picked the paper off his bed.

Looking down at it once again, he read it more clearly and slowly. Instead of just skimming it.

"This is weird," Joe said aloud "Dad never said anything about giving a million dollars to charity. Says here that he is proud to give _half _of his money away."

Frank nodded in agreement "Right he would've told us. Besides this article is making him sound very rich. Plus the fact that it was in the factory, isn't that suspicious?"

Joe frowned and said "Yeah. Definitely. We need to go back to that room."

"What?" Frank asked skeptically.

"Frank I swear we must've missed something in that room. We can go at night after closing, and through the exit. Please we have to go." Joe continued.

"Are you sure you're up to that?"

"Yeah I'll live. But dad… he needs us now."

"Alright then. Tonight after closing."

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For the second time in one day, the two brothers were in the room. Chet had decided to stay home.

It was strangely easy to sneak in. All the guards were in the front of the building, and they didn't see any security cameras anywhere.

In a way it was too easy.

But the boys were so happy to have gotten in that it didn't really matter to them.

As soon as they entered the room they started to search. They searched everywhere they could. But they still couldn't find anything.

"Ugh I could've sworn that I missed something." Joe sighed, staring up at the ceiling.

His mouth gaped open.

"Frank look!" he cried, pointing upwards at the ceiling.

There on the top, barely visible was a trap door.

"No way! Nice find Joe." Frank said.

Seeing no other way, the boys jumped up on the shelves and pulled on the door.

With a loud creak, it swung wide open.

"Let's go." Frank said, and Joe nodded.

When the boys entered and flickered on the lights they looked around in disappointment.

The room was huge, with many empty boxes lying around. Everything was neat; spick and span.

But no Dad.

Splitting up they began to search again. Joe fumbled through the boxes until his hand came across something that felt like a leather book.

"Dad's journal! He was here Frank." Joe cried out happily.

When Frank didn't answer Joe started to get worried.

"Frank?"

"Over here Joe," he cried back in a flat tone. "Looks like they knew we were coming. They must've taken dad and the stolen goods out of here as quickly as possible. Explains why it was so easy to get in here."

Joe looked over to his brother in confusion.

"What do you mean Frank?" he asked.

"They left a bomb. And we only have three minutes until it blows."

TBC…

As always I really hope that you enjoyed this chapter! It was longer than I thought, but that makes up for the long introduction.

As always please _Review _it honestly is amazing to see people's opinions. Love ya'll and stay awesome. Until next time.


	7. Chapter 7

Hey guys! Thanks so much for the 28 reviews. I am so happy to see such a good response to my story. Someone on the reviews said that my story has the original series ring to them, and I am happy that they mentioned that. Because yes actually, I do base my Hardy Boys Fanfictions off of the original series since they were always my favorites! :)

I just finished my AP world history summer assignment! Blech. Anyways here's the next chapter!

Disclaimer: Hello! You guys are _not_ stupid _at all_. So you know the answer to this disclaimer…

Chapter 6…

Joe's face fell when Frank lifted the ticking device up, so that he could see it.

In all the cases they'd ever been in, this _had_ to be the first time anyone used a bomb on them.

Panic bubbled up inside of him as he stood stock still in fear.

"Frank…"

"Joe come on, we have to get out of here!" Frank cried to his still brother.

Seeing that Joe wasn't moving, Frank grabbed a fist full of Joe's jacket sleeve, and yanked him forward.

He then half ran, half pulled his way over to the entrance of the trap door.

"There's no way _I_ can get you down the ladder Joe. I'm going to need you to snap out of it. JOE!" Frank cried.

"Huh? Oh…" Joe answered.

Just then the whole reality of what was happening dawned on Joe.

_Crap! We have to get out of here!_

Quickly pocketing dad's notebook, Joe gave a nod of understanding to his older brother.

And they were on their way.

Scrambling down the ladder, through the door, into the hallway, and through the door the boys made it out of the building just as there was a loud BOOM!

Running a bit farther to get out of the way, Joe finally allowed himself to collapse onto the ground and watch as the building erupted into flames, sending heat as hot as the blazing sun in their direction.

For a while the boys just sat, side by side, panting and watching as pieces of building fell off and onto the now burning grass below.

"W-what do we do now?" Joe finally asked.

"We should call the fire department."

"They'll ask what we are doing here."

"I know. But we can't leave with the building like this."

"You're right… OH GOD!"

"WHAT? Joe? Are you ok?"

"There… there wasn't anyone else in the building. Right Frank?"

Frank breathed a sigh of relief "Right. I double checked on security before we left."

Joe also relaxed at hearing this, and he leaned back into the soft grass as Frank dialed the fire department.

"Hi this is Frank Hardy calling from The Steve Cheese Factory. It's an emergency." Frank said.

He paused for a moment, obviously listening to the person on the other line, before saying "Ok thanks."

Hanging up the phone, Frank sighed and flopped down on the grass next to his brother.

"They're on their way."

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"So what happened here boys?" Asked Police Chief Gerald.

It was two hours since the bomb went off, and the fire department had finished putting out the flames about half an hour ago.

Joe eyed Frank nervously, trying to figure out whether they could tell the man what had happened or not.

"Well… we were coming to… umm, get my jacket that I left _outside _the building, when the whole building went up in flames… yeah." Joe said quickly.

But Chief Gerald didn't look convinced. "Boys… I know your father so I know that no sons of his would ever plant a bomb in this factory. But I need you to tell me the real story of why you were here."

Frank sighed in defeat. "Alright. We came here to try and find our dad. We found a trap door, and went in. Seems like they were waiting for us to come, since they planted a bomb. So we just booked it out of there, and called the fire department. And well, here we are now."

The police chief shook his head in disbelief of these kids. They were so much like their father. He could imagine the man going into a building after business hours… but two kids?

"Alright. I'll keep it under wraps boys. But _never _and I mean never, try something so stupid ever again." Chief Gerald said sternly.

"Of course sir." Frank answered, sighing inwardly at their near getaway.

"Goodnight sir." Joe continued, and then he and Frank turned to their boat.

They were about to step in, when another boat with a very anxious looking boy in it drove up to them.

"Ooops, I never called Chet." Frank sighed.

"Uh oh. I don't want to be here for this." Joe whispered back starting to get into The Sleuth.

"Oh no you don't!" Frank cried, grabbing hold of Joe's jacket once again.

As the boat docked, Chet jumped out and hugged his friends, then stood back glaring angrily at them.

"Do you know who I had to call to know what was going on? I had to call _the police!_ And I got scared half to death when they said that a bomb went off right where you two are! So at TWO IN THE MORNING I had to rent a boat, and high tail it _all the way down here_, when I could've just gotten a call from _you two _telling me what happened, and saying that you were ok! What? Do we only call each other when there's NOT in an emergency?!" Chet finished, and then took a deep breath to calm himself.

The brothers, who had stepped back a bit when Chet yelled at them, were now prepared to apologize.

"Sorry Chet. It was just so overwhelming after just coming from a collapsing building, _barely_ escaping with our lives… that we forgot to call you…" Joe said in his fake sad voice, that only Frank knew about.

Frank tried to hide a chuckle, as he watched Chet play into his brother's hoax.

"It's fine Joe. I guess I would have done the same thing." Chet said putting a hand on Joe's sagging shoulders in comfort.

Frank turned away so his best friend couldn't see the grin on his face.

_Joe really is a good actor._

Finally, they boarded the two boats and made their way back to the docks near the motel.

Arriving at the hotel, Joe and Chet had fallen asleep pretty much right after they hit their beds.

But as Frank lay there staring up at the ceiling, listening to the small clock tick on the desk in between his and Joe's bed, he thought:

_Who are these people that would go as far as setting a bomb on us? What did you do dad, which would make someone want you so badly? And where are you now?_

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Joe flipped to the last page in their dad's journal that had last month's date on it

Looking down at Fenton's messy handwriting, he tried to figure out what all the random words on it meant.

"You're up early." Came Frank's voice from the entrance of the kitchen.

Joe looked over to his brother and gave him a slight smile. "Yeah. I woke up at five and then I couldn't go back to sleep."

Frank nodded and looked over at the clock, which read _5:30. _Sitting down on the chair next to Joe, he let out a big yawn.

"You don't look so good yourself Frank. How much sleep did _you _get?" Joe asked.

"Probably two hours, tops."

"Oh. Frank that's not good."

"I'm ok … ugh this all just seems so crazy. I mean bombs… it's a miracle you slept at all Joe."

"Yeah. And we were so close last night Frank, if I hadn't screamed earlier they never would have known we were here. And dad would still…" Joe started, but was interrupted by Frank again.

"Joe! Since when did you start to blame yourself for _everything?_ You couldn't possibly have stopped yourself from screaming out earlier. It. Was. Not. Your. Fault."

Joe looked down not wanting to meet his brother's eyes. He didn't want to seem selfish or annoying, but nothing could make him feel less guilty about yesterday. Or just dad's disappearance in general…

"Look Frank, it's the last thing dad wrote in his journal before he disappeared. See if you can make anything out of it." Joe said quietly, wanting to change the subject.

Frank frowned and took the notebook from his younger brother's hand. He would let the conversation go for now, but it was _far_ from over.

Looking at the words Frank cocked an eyebrow up as he always did in concentration.

"I think this is a riddle Joe," He murmured "hand me a pencil please."

Joe nodded and put a pencil in his brother's opened hand.

Taking it, Frank began to write the riddle more clearly on the next page.

_If it's come that one is gone, then do not get freaked out. And answer me this- The answer lies in the classified area, in a place that people read. Find me._

"Ok weird." Joe said, looking over Frank's shoulder.

"Yeah but it shouldn't be too hard to figure out. We know the first line already. _If it's come that one is gone, then do not get freaked out, _must mean if he's missing don't freak out." Frank started.

"Yeah you're right… but that means dad knew there was a chance he'd go missing. This just gets weirder and weirder." Joe continued.

"It does. Well let's see, the answer is in the classified area… what does that mean?"

"Hey wait a minute Frank! Remember that one time dad left that secret message to one of his friends, in an ad in the newspaper?"

"Yeah… Joe you don't think he left us an ad do you?"

"Maybe I don't know. Let me get the paper with dad's charity article on it."

Frank nodded to his brother, hoping he was right.

Soon Joe came back with the paper and flipped it open to the middle, where the classified ads were.

There in the middle, was an ad that was put there by Fenton Hardy. It read:

For the best fish bait in all of America, _start at _Mr. Carder's bait shop. He _knows the answers _to where you can find the best fish!

The brothers exchanged looks of excitement.

"You think that could be it?" Joe asked excitedly "This man Mr. Carder know the answers to where dad is?"

"I don't know Joe. But we don't have anything else to run off. We have to go." Frank answered, a bit unsurely.

Nodding his head in agreement, Joe began to pull up the search engine on the internet. So he could search for the bait shop.

As he was doing so he thought:

_Please, please let this man know where dad is…_

TBC…

Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Oooh will they find their dad or not? Or will they have followed a false lead? More to come in the next chapter…

And like always please _REVIEW _if you haven't noticed by now, I do read them all, and enjoy them very much. Thanks and keep reading!


	8. Chapter 8

Hey guys! First of all, I am so unbelievably sorry for taking five days to update. I was finishing summer assignments, doing other fanfictions, and getting my school schedule so I do have a good excuse. Anyways I am going to make this chapter longer to make up for it. Love ya'll.

Disclaimer: I wished upon a star to own them. But my wish was not granted

Chapter 7…

Chet finished loading all their luggage onto The Sleuth and finally slumped onto one of its cushiony seats.

"Let's just go fellows, before you make me lug _something else_ on this boat." Chet groaned good naturedly.

Frank swapped a look with Joe.

"Actualllyyy… I _do _have one more thing." Joe started, but stopped when Chet playfully hit him upside the head.

"Ok, ok! Let's go guys." Frank interrupted.

The other two nodded, and soon they were out in the ocean making their way to Mr. Carder's bait shop only twenty miles away on a small island near Madison Wisconsin.

"I hope this isn't just a false trail." Joe said after they'd been out for about an hour.

"Same here, because if he doesn't know anything then we will be back to square one." Frank continued.

"Yeah. And we were on the right track too. I mean with the trapdoor and newspaper, and the note that lead us to the factory…" Joe rambled.

"Well there's no need to worry about that now. Besides in a way, it's all that stuff that lead us here." Frank finished.

Joe nodded his head in unsure agreement.

"Speaking of here, we're here." Chet said, pointing in front of him.

There on the shore, was an old rickety looking building made of wood with a lopsided sign reading _Mr. Carder's Bait Shop. _

Surrounding the building was an overgrown lawn with weeds the size of bushes. It looked as if it hadn't been mowed for fifty years. A small path lead from the docks to where the shop was, just big enough for one person to fit through at a time.

"This had better be a lead." Joe groaned as he climbed of the boat and onto the dock.

The others nodded in agreement.

Arriving at the door first, Joe opened it very carefully, because it looked like it was going to fall off its hinges. A small bell jingled as he entered and the smell of dirt and the sea filled his nose.

"Hello, welcome to the bait shop where ya going fishing young lad?" A gray haired man asked with a big smile.

"Oh actually I'm not here to buy bait. Are you Mr. Carder?" Joe asked politely.

The man's smile instantly dropped, and was replaced by a frown.

"Yes I'm Mr. Carder. But if you're not here to buy anything I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

Joe winced at the sudden change in the man's stature.

Fortunately his brother and Chet walked in just as Mr. Carder said that.

"Sorry to bother you sir" Frank said "But we're Mr. Hardy's sons. A message he left us has lead us here to you."

Mr. Carder looked up at them and said suspiciously "I was told Fenton only had two sons."

"Oh sorry. I'm Frank, that's my brother Joe and this here is our best friend Chet." Frank said pointing to their chubby best friend.

"Prove it." Mr. Carder said harshly.

Joe glared at the man, starting to get impatient.

"Why should we _prove_ it to you?" He said angrily, stepping closer to the man.

Frank put a hand on Joe's shoulder, restraining him from doing anything he'd regret.

"Joe calm down. I have our ID's right here."

Handing the ids to the man they waited anxiously for his response.

After a minute, Mr. Carder looked up at them. He was smiling again like he had when Joe first came in the shop.

"Looks like I owe ya an apology boys. Follow me, we'll talk in my office."

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Bullet sat in a chair across from Fenton Hardy, who was tied up with chains and sitting on the dirty floor.

"Your boys ain't neva going ta find you you know Fenton. And when we get the ransom cash we'll be rich." Bullet snarled, scooting a little closer to the oldest Hardy.

"You're wrong Brandon. My boys are smart. They found the first hiding place, so they'll find the second." Fenton said in a calm voice.

"It's Bullet! Call me Bullet!" Bullet cried, slapping Fenton across the face.

With that, he stood up and left the room slamming the door behind him.

"And don't even think about trying to escape!" He yelled through the door as he locked it securely.

Turning around he glared at his bald headed worker.

"If it wasn't for you miscalculating the miles away from Madison Wisconsin then they would be dead right now! Plus your stupid bomb didn't even work. I saw on the news today that the boys lived! So you better fix this or else you'll be the one to die. Hear me?" Bullet screamed, his face beginning to turn a bit purple.

The bald man nodded quickly fear in his eyes, and sweat dripping down his face.

"Y-yes sir. We'll k-kill him sir. But h-how sir?" He said, stumbling on his words.

Bullet grabbed him by the shirt collar and pushed him into the wall.

"You and redhead over there, will each take a gun and go down to where the Hardy Boys are at the motel I saw on the news and you will shoot them. DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?!" Bullet screamed, spit spewing from his mouth and onto the worker.

"Yes sir!" he cried.

Going over to the guns he picked two up and made his way over to David, the redhead.

"If we mess this up we're both dead." He whispered to David.

They both gulped, knowing that that was definitely _not_ an understatement.

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Frank sat next to his brother on the office's small couch. Chet took a seat beside him while Mr. Carder began to pace back and forth.

"So I gather you boys got your dad's message? Which should mean that he's in trouble. Am I right?" Mr. Carder asked.

"Yes sir, at least that's what we've been lead to believe. Dad said in the ad that we should begin here because you know the answers." Frank answered.

"You just confirmed my thoughts. You're father put that ad there for an emergency." Mr. Carder continued with a frown.

"Please Mr. Carder, can you tell us everything you know? _I_ have to find my dad. I mean, _we_ do…" Joe said quietly.

"Sure lad, but no interruptions until I'm finished, got that?"

"Got it."

"Ok. So it started about two and a half months ago. Your father called me many times asking me to help him get an article and an ad into the newspaper. The reason he called me, is because one of my close friends works for the _Wisconsin News Daily_. Anyways, I agreed to help him, since I owed him one. But I did ask why he wanted them there. He said all that he could tell me, was the fact that he needed to make himself sound rich, and that the ad was an ad for his sons just in case he didn't _make it _back… I guess I should have asked him what he meant. But I figured it was none of my business. Sorry boys that's about all I know." Mr. Carder finished, looking to the floor.

Frank looked over to his brother, who was staring in front of him, clutching a fist of his hair. The typical "deep thinking Joe" face.

"What is it Joe?" Frank asked.

"I remember him talking to someone on the phone one night. He was talking about ads… he must've been talking to you Mr. Carder." Joe said sadly feeling guilty again.

"But why would he want to make himself look rich to the public? And where did he go that he knew was dangerous?" Frank questioned.

The boys looked back over to Mr. Carder.

"Are you absolutely sure that's all you know?" Frank asked again.

"Yes son, I'm afraid so."

"Well ok. That's fine, we just need to work with what we have. We know that Bullet is the one who kidnapped dad, and we know that dad was trying to look rich… hey WAIT A MINUTE!" Frank cried out, as he thought of something.

"What is it Frank?" Joe asked, excited at his brothers tone.

"Dad was trying to make himself look rich… you don't think it might be because he wanted to get kidnapped do you?" Frank asked seriously.

"Frank have you gone nuts… why on freaking earth would dad want to get kidnapped? And do you mean he was trying to get their attention by showing the public he had a million dollars?" Joe questioned in an annoyed tone.

Was his brother trying to make a joke, right now of all times? Because it was not funny at all.

Frank could see his brother was starting to get annoyed so he quickly put in "I'm being serious Joe. Maybe dad was trying to get Bullet's attention so he could capture him or something. After all he is the most wanted person in all of Wisconsin."

Joe contemplated this for a minute, and then looked up to his brother with looking less angry then before.

"Ok I guess I can see how that would maybe make sense." Joe said.

"Yeah. And maybe that night on the docks two months ago, he was trying to capture Bullet, when instead Bullet captured him. It's not that much to go on, but it's all we have." Frank finished.

Joe nodded slowly, and then tried, but failed to hide his yawn.

"Let's go to sleep Joe," Frank said "Tomorrow we can continue with this."

The other boys agreed and were standing up to leave when Mr. Carder stopped them.

"There isn't a hotel or inn for another three miles. You're welcome to stay at my house about five minutes away from the shop. I have an extra room, that is if you boys don't mind being in one room together." He finished.

"Thanks that sounds great." Frank answered.

And soon they were on their way to the quiet small little house that they _thought_ was safe.

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David and the bald man stood outside the small motel.

"Should we just break in there Baldy?" David asked.

"No idiot. We have to pretend to be model citizens. All we do is go in and ask what room they're in. Say we're their cousins or somethin'." Baldy answered in a gruff voice.

His colleague nodded, and they entered the small building, walking right up to the receptionist's desk.

"Hello. Would you two like a room?" asked the receptionist.

"Umm no thank you ma'am. We uh… are meeting our cousins here." Baldy said in a surprisingly realistic nice voice.

"I see. What are their names?"

"Frank and Joe Hardy."

"Hmmm. Oh I'm sorry, looks like your cousins just checked out this morning."

Baldy shot an annoyed glance at David, and then they turned back around to look at the receptionist.

"That's ok. Could you maybe tell us where they went? I lost my cell phone so I can't call them or anything." David said.

"Yes. It seems like they are off to some bait house… umm Mr. Carder's bait house I think."

Baldy gave a wicked smile and said:

"Thank you very much. You have been most _helpful_."

TBC…

Hey guys! I really hope you enjoyed this chapter. Uh oh looks like all heck is breaking loose. Check out my next chapter when I update in a few days!

And of course please _REVIEW _each and every review not only helps me to keep going by giving me the motivation, but they are also very fun to read. Love you all, and see you soon.


	9. Chapter 9

Hey my lovely readers! First of all I'd like to thank you for your wonderful patience. And of course I'd like to apologize for the inconsistency, but school is starting and I will be very busy. But I can promise you right now, that no matter what, I am _not _giving up on this story. I _will _complete it at my own pace. I love you all for sticking with me, and I hope you enjoy chapter eight.

Disclaimer: I can pretend to be one of the many Franklin W Dixon ghost writers, but sadly I doubt I will ever really be one.

Chapter 8...

Fenton Hardy searched the dark room, trying to find a way out. It was pitch dark and he couldn't see a thing, so he used his hands to run along the wall looking for a crack or some type of hole that he could work his way out of.

But there was nothing. He was stuck.

Just then the door opened a crack, and a slim piece of light made its way into the musty old room.

"Dinner Hardy. Your _last _one." Came a gruff voice from outside.

"Bullet, you need me alive," Fenton said calmly "For ransom money."

The man from outside stepped in a bit, so that he was standing in the doorway. He gave Fenton an almost toothless grin and chuckled lightly.

"Yes, we did need you. But not anymore. Your wife has agreed to give the ransom money. She gives us the money, we kill you, and then we head on our own way." The gruff man stated.

"You won't get away with this." Fenton stated angrily.

"Oh yeah? Just watch us Hardy. And after we get you, we get your brat children."

Fenton's face turned dark red in anger. He was usually a very level headed man, but if it came that someone was hurting his kids, he couldn't help but get angry.

"You leave my boys alone. They have nothing to do with this." He said, trying to stay calm.

"Too late. Two guys are after them now."

And with that, the gruff man left shutting the door once again, ignoring the angry man in the room.

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"So how did you meet our dad?" Joe asked Mr. Carder.

All three boys sat at the small kitchen table with Mr. Carder, eating some much needed sandwiches.

Mr. Carder smiled when the young lad asked him that. "Well actually it was only three years ago. I was out on the docks getting some more bait for my shop, when two huge men came up and threatened to kill me if I didn't give them all the money I had. Being me, I refused. And when the men pulled out guns I was sure I was a goner. That's when your father came in a police car and captured them. He saved my life. After that we've been what you would call, long distance friends. And that's why I agreed to help him, no questions asked."

Joe smiled and nodded. It was just like his father to come to the rescue.

Frank was about to excuse himself to go do more research when his cellphone started to ring.

"Frank Hardy. Can I help you?"

"Yeah Frank, it's Callie."

"Is something wrong?"

"Your mom and Aunt have decided to pay the ransom money. I'm sorry, I tried to tell them to give you guys a little more time, but they got this message this morning…"

Frank's face fell when he heard Callie say his mom was paying the ransom money. "Whoa, slow down Callie. What did the message say?"

"It said _you have one more day to pay the ransom money or else your beloved Fenton is a goner."_

"Oh no. Thanks for informing us Callie. Please tell our mom and Aunt that we _will _find dad. Ok… bye." Frank finished, hanging up the phone.

He looked over to Joe with worried eyes.

"What Frank?" Joe asked nervously.

"We have one day to find dad. That's it. One. Stinking. Day."

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Baldy and David stepped off the bus and began the walk to the bait shop.

"It's only fifteen minutes away on foot." He said to his stupid partner.

David nodded.

"So what's the plan again Baldy?" He asked.

"I explained it a million times David… huh. We go into the shop from the back entrance with our guns. Come up behind them and catch them by surprise. They'll be forced to be tied up by us and then we will dump them in the ocean."

"But what if they know how to swim?"

"You idiot! No one can swim when THEY ARE TIED UP!"

David flinched when Baldy yelled at him. It wasn't his fault he spaced out when the plan was being explained.

His thoughts were interrupted when they reached the bait shop.

Sneaking to the back door, the men were happy to find the door unlocked.

Pulling out their guns, they entered silently.

"David I am going to turn the lights on…" Baldy whispered "in three…two…one… what the?"

The two men stood there dumbfounded for a second, and then swapped angry looks.

The boys weren't there…

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Joe left the house to get some fresh air.

They had one day left. That wasn't enough time. But there was no way he was going to let his dad get killed.

_If I never fix this mess I started, I'll never be able to forgive myself._

He sighed and started walking, not entirely sure of where he was going.

He was about to head back inside thirty minutes later, when he saw the lights flicker on inside the bait shop.

"Oh great, they found us." He mumbled, when he saw what looked like a red bush of hair coming from inside.

Going off his instincts he grabbed a shovel from Mr. Carder's tool box, and made his way over to the shop.

Pushing the door open wide enough so he could slip through, Joe found himself standing right behind the large men.

_Great they have guns. Maybe if I hit them before they notice me…_

Lifting the shovel above his head he prepared to swing, when David whirled around to face him.

"Drop the shovel!" he yelled.

Joe gulped and lowered the tool to the ground. Then he slowly stood up, holding his hands out to show that he wasn't a threat.

"Haha this is great. You actually did something right for once David." Baldy said, putting his gun closer to the scared blonde kid.

"Thanks! Boss will be so happy," David responded proudly "Let's tie 'im up."

The men chuckled and reached for the rope.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you!" Came Mr. Carder's voice from the entrance of the store.

Joe and the two men, whirled around. There in the doorway was Mr. Carder holding a huge shotgun and Frank holding a crowbar.

"Drop your guns or else he'll shoot you. And believe me, he'll get you before you can get him." Frank continued.

The two men exchanged fearful looks, and they let their guns drop to the floor.

"Now Joe!" Frank cried.

Joe didn't have to be told twice, he picked up his shovel and used it to knock the two huge men unconscious.

"Let's get them tied up." Frank said.

"Gee thanks Frank and Mr. Carder, I would've been a goner if it weren't for you. Say, where did you get that shotgun Mr. Carder?" Joe asked curiously.

Mr. Carder laughed. "Ever since I got attacked that day I've had this gun. Just in case I got attacked again. This is the first time I've needed it. But hopefully I will never have to actually fire."

Joe smiled, this man just got cooler all the time.

After they had the men tied up they waited for them to wake back up so they could interrogate them.

"What are you so happy about Joe?" Frank asked his younger brother, who was now smiling like he'd just received a hundred dollars.

"This could be it Frank. These guys could lead us all the way to dad."

"Don't get your hopes up Joe, they may not even talk."

"Oh they'll talk all right. If I have anything to do with it."

Frank watched as Joe picked up all their weapons. The two guns, the shovel, the crowbar, and the big shotgun.

He then positioned them so that they were all facing the bad guys.

Frank chuckled, his brother's plans were so crazy some times. But that doesn't mean they were bad…

"So they'll wake up to see all those and definitely talk. Haha they don't know that we never kill." Joe said seriously.

"Yeah if you don't give them a heart attack first." Frank teased.

Joe hit him playfully upside the head.

Then the two boys sat back and waited for the men to wake up. They didn't have to wait long to hear groans coming from the corner.

"W-what the…" Baldy stuttered upon seeing the weapons surrounding him.

"Please don't kill us!" David cried.

"We won't kill you, if you lead us to where our dad is." Joe smirked.

"N-never." Baldy answered fearfully.

"Alright then… three… two… one…"

"NO PLEASE FINE WE'LL LEAD YOU TO YOUR FATHER!"

"Good. Let's get going."

TBC…

Hey guys hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thanks again for your patience and for just being awesome in general. I will see you when I update next. Don't freak out if it doesn't come very quickly.

Please _REVIEW _I really need the motivation to keep going. Love you guys. And see you in the future for chapter 9!


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